In an interview with KCRG-TV, Grassley said, "There's all sorts of reasons to believe that this situation in Boston brings to light a lot of the insecure border we have. So, it's an appropriate time to talk about all of this stuff, not just legalization, but border security and entrance at our airports, and all that."

Grassley denied trying to hold up the immigration reform bill from the Gang of Eight, saying instead "We're just trying to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes we did in 1986 when we thought we fixed everything. We didn't fix it. We screwed up, and we can't screw up again."

When asked about Senate Majority Harry Reid's decision to remove the gun-control bill, Senator Grassley said "I think it's too bad that it was taken down, because we do need to pass some gun legislation. But, we don't need to pass anything that leads to registration, or anything that leads to banning of guns."